QuakerBooks News, May 2016
For over a quarter century, QuakerBooks of FGC has served Quakers, Quaker meetings, and individuals by supplying books, pamphlets, ebooks, CDs, and other materials that help Friends and others live our lives as expressions of our faith, serve our values, and learn about the Quaker way past and present.
QuakerBooks is both an on-line store (QuakerBooks.org) and an in-person bookstore serving thousands of Friends and seekers from all over the world who visit the Pendle Hill campus each year. We also appear annually at the week-long FGC Gathering in July and work with yearly meetings and other Friends organizations to offer book tables at conferences and gatherings.
Like all independent book sellers, QuakerBooks has faced a number of challenges over recent years. But we are committed to meeting those challenges and continuing to offer our full range of services. That commitment means we have made some changes and are about to make more. Some of these changes include:
- After residing at the FGC office for almost 26 years, QuakerBooks relocated to a store front location on the Pendle Hill campus in Wallingford, PA in April 2015. This has increased our walk-in sales considerably.
- Having listened to your requests for an easier book buying experience, we have moved to a new point of sale and inventory system. We will be completing a move to a new, easier to use website (still at QuakerBooks.org) in mid-June.
- We are moving to a new staffing arrangement. Instead of having two part-time staff, we will have one full-time bookstore manager and one very part-time shipping clerk. This change will be made by mid-August. (click here for more information).
This last change is a difficult one as it may mean that we will lose one or both of long-term, much loved staff members – Graham Garner and Jerimy Pedersen. Graham and Jerimy have long been known for their customer service and commitment to the store. We are very grateful for their love of Friends and their dedication to the ministry of the word. We hope this unfolds in whatever way is best for them and for QuakerBooks.
We are hopeful that the above changes, and others you’ll see in the near future, will help QuakerBooks improve its services and continue its mission of serving Friends and others long into the future. And, with your support and the support of your meeting through the purchase of books and other items, we will. Thank you.